Mountain Trails Foundation

We build, maintain and protect Park City, Utah's trails

Trail News

Wasatch Trails Foundation Maple Grove Match Campaign 

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DONATE

We’re excited to continue our progress on the Maple Grove Trail, a crucial WOW Trail connection that will provide better access for emergency response and provide opportunities for future trails. We’ll be hosting a Dig Day on Saturday, May 14 (see below) to focus on corridor clearing. Bring your loppers, saws, snacks, water and come ready for a killer day in the mountains!

To get this project across the line we are hoping to raise $5,000 in matching funds. These funds will go directly to our Maple Grove project and will help us ensure the trail meets the standard our community demands. Please consider donating today if it is within your means. Every little bit helps and together we can do great things!”

MEET MORE OF THE TEAM

Meet the Team

We are passionate about the Park City Trail System.

Lora Anthony

Lora@MountainTrails.org
Executive Director

Rick Fournier

Rick@MountainTrails.org
Field Manager

Ginger Wicks

Ginger@MountainTrails.org
Bookkeepr

Ian Hartley

ian@MountainTrails.org
Resource Manager
435-655-5853

2022 Trail Crew

Trail Crew Positions Available

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Interested in a career with Mountain Trails?  We currently have positions available for Trail Crew Leads and Trail Specialists (general trail crew). See  job descriptions and apply using the links below.

Trail Specialist Job Description

Trail Crew Lead Job Description

MEET MORE OF THE TEAM

Meet the Team

We are passionate about the Park City Trail System.

Lora Anthony

Lora@MountainTrails.org
Executive Director

Rick Fournier

Rick@MountainTrails.org
Field Manager

Ginger Wicks

Ginger@MountainTrails.org
Bookkeepr

Ian Hartley

ian@MountainTrails.org
Resource Manager
435-655-5853

2022 Trail Crew

Keeping the White Side Up

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A few days ago, as I was looking over the 10-day forecast, it occurred to me that the weather man (or woman) quite possibly has the most secure job on the planet.  Where else can you get paid to repeatedly regurgitate oxymoronic descriptors based on computer generated “models” and almost always have your bases covered??? Is it partly cloudy or is it partly sunny? Chance of rain/snow… well, which is it? What constitutes a “calm wind”? Fifty percent chance of precip… that’s a safe bet.  

All in good fun as I’m not here to bash our meteorologist friends, especially in light of the recent return of winter.  Although, I have to say, after a quick-hit road trip with the crew down to Moab for some sun-soaked, red rock, desert mountain biking, I think I was ready to be done with winter.  

One thing that we can all agree on, is that the winter of ’21-’22 has been a strange one.  Remember that huge storm in October?  And then pretty much nothing until New Years when it dumped… followed by nada for close to two months. Yes, we’ve had below average snowfall, ridiculously long stretches of high pressure and massive temperature swings. We even had our traditional January thaw, only it occurred for nearly the entire month of February, culminating last week.          

And now here we are, in early March, on a weather roller-coaster ride. Just last week the temps spiked into the upper 50’s with a full-on meltdown underway, that created pond-skim-worthy bodies of standing water and actively flowing rivulets where Nordic track had lived just days before. We were ready to throw in the towel. One week later and we’re back in the 20’s with a healthy dose of fresh snow and more on the way. Thanks a lot weather people!        

I’d like to throw a big shout out to our grooming team – Chase, Alec, Jonathan and all-star guest groomer, Todd Henneman.  Despite being handed a lemon of a winter, the MTF crew somehow managed to squeeze out some tasty, snow-spiked lemonade for over three months and counting. We made the best it, doing a lot with a little, as did all of you powder hounds and winter trail enthusiasts. Despite the lackluster winter, there were some good turns to be had up on the mountain and smiles for miles (and kilometers) out on our local singletrack and Nordic.        

Be sure to thank your local groomers (and meteorologists) for the good stuff, and have a great one out there!

Rick, MTF Trails Manager

MEET MORE OF THE TEAM

Meet the Team

We are passionate about the Park City Trail System.

Lora Anthony

Lora@MountainTrails.org
Executive Director

Rick Fournier

Rick@MountainTrails.org
Field Manager

Ginger Wicks

Ginger@MountainTrails.org
Bookkeepr

Ian Hartley

ian@MountainTrails.org
Resource Manager
435-655-5853

2022 Trail Crew

Winter Trails in The Uintas

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Lora’s latest post highlights our desire to wander and venture from our backyard trails into the wilds of the west. The good news is that adventure is never far from a Park City doorstep and the Uinta Mountains offer a fantastic change of scenery that, in many cases, is accessible in less than an hour.

Almost one million acres of public land awaits, including fantastic winter trail options. For those of you who have visited the Beaver Creek trail know that there’s still a winter wonderland with grooming to suit the most discerning skate skier if your timing is right. Grooming on the Beaver Creek Trail does not follow a set schedule but usually takes place on Mondays and Thursdays, a US Forest Service pass is required for visitors and can be purchased at the ranger station for $6 in Kamas or at the self-pay station on Highway 150. Dogs are allowed on odd-days.

In addition to the Beaver Creek Trail, the Wasatch-Cache National Forest offers groomed skiing on the Pine Valley loop and numerous, unmaintained  snowshoe trails. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the area and prepare for your adventure accordingly. Avalanche awareness is highly recommended if plans are to venture off Beaver Creek Trail.

The following, albeit dated Skiing and Snowshoeing Trail guide is a great place to start: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5084032.pdf .

For more information visit the Kamas Ranger Station at 50 E Center St, Kamas, UT 84036 Mon-Fri between 9-4:30

MEET MORE OF THE TEAM

Meet the Team

We are passionate about the Park City Trail System.

Lora Anthony

Lora@MountainTrails.org
Executive Director

Rick Fournier

Rick@MountainTrails.org
Field Manager

Ginger Wicks

Ginger@MountainTrails.org
Bookkeepr

Ian Hartley

ian@MountainTrails.org
Resource Manager
435-655-5853

2022 Trail Crew

Cross-country skiing, now open to the public, on the Osguthorpe Farm

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Collaboration Wins

Dana Jones (Director, Basin Recreation), Lora Smith (Executive Director, Mountain Trails) and Cheryl Fox (Executive Director, Summit Land Conservancy) officially open xc skiing on the Osguthorpe Farm/GreenHeart

If ever there was a project that defined the word ‘collaboration’ this is it! MTF is elated to be part of the team bringing a much-needed, long-awaited, beginner-accessible, dog-free, ski-only venue to Summit County. 

Cross-country skiing, now open to the public, on the Osguthorpe Farm (aka the GreenHeart of the Basin) exemplifies a community effort between the Osguthorpe Family, Summit Land Conservancy, Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District (Basin Rec) and Mountain Trails Foundation (MTF). Donations from the Promontory Foundation and a private donor funded this project. While Summit Land Conservancy holds the conservation easement and coordinated with the Osguthorpe Family, going forward, MTF will provide annual track design/layout and Basin Rec will provide regular winter grooming, tagging it onto their schedule for the adjacent Willow Creek winter trail system. 

To give credit where credit is due, the idea for skiing on the GreenHeart was originally the brainchild of, no surprise, Charlie Sturgis, MTF’s former director and ski enthusiast of the highest order. When the GreenHeart came under conservation, Charlie promptly recognized the opportunity to play – again, to those who know him, no big surprise. Now, several years, meetings and contracts later, we have arrived with an amenity that serves the public appetite for fun. Way to go, Boss! Your legacy lives on.

Also deserving of fist pumps is MTF’s very own Trails Manager, Rick, for employing his winter trail expertise on tricky, late season conditions and for coordinating the track layout directly with Steve O. It’s not every day one’s job involves taking a farmer out for a January snowmobile ride on a sugar-snow covered hay field. 

At every turn, this was a group effort and, for many proud years to come, the Osguthorpe Farm/GreenHeart cross-country ski area will be a shining gem in our winter trail system. We look forward to seeing xc skiers of all types adopting the GreenHeart as their own – caring for the land and caring for one another. 

On behalf of  Basin Rec, Summit Land Conservancy and MTF, I extend warm gratitude to a community that supports our work and understands that ‘Trails and Land Go Hand in Hand!’

See you out there,

Lora Smith, MTF Executive Director

MEET MORE OF THE TEAM

Meet the Team

We are passionate about the Park City Trail System.

Lora Anthony

Lora@MountainTrails.org
Executive Director

Rick Fournier

Rick@MountainTrails.org
Field Manager

Ginger Wicks

Ginger@MountainTrails.org
Bookkeepr

Ian Hartley

ian@MountainTrails.org
Resource Manager
435-655-5853

2022 Trail Crew

The Wait is Over – Bonanza Flat is Groomed

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It is with great happiness that we announce the long-awaited opening of the groomed track in Bonanza Flat. This is especially monumental as we can safely say there has never been more km’s of groomed Nordic ski or singletrack options available. Of course, it takes a village, and this opportunity is only possible with the support and collaboration of our community – thank you!

Conditions look to be keeping the snow cold and dry which means it will take continued grooming and diligence to keep the trails at their best. Avoiding post-holes and ruts on the trails means keeping an eye on conditions and proceeding with extra care and caution. This goes for access routes as well, traveling up Marsac from the Mid Mountain Trailhead is steep and, on the way back down, you can encounter icy patches, ruts and variable snow that make it difficult to control your speed. Stay safe, give authorized vehicles a wide berth and remember there are no trash or bathroom facilities so if you pack it in, pack it out.

Happy trails!

DONATE NOW

MEET MORE OF THE TEAM

Meet the Team

We are passionate about the Park City Trail System.

Lora Anthony

Lora@MountainTrails.org
Executive Director

Rick Fournier

Rick@MountainTrails.org
Field Manager

Ginger Wicks

Ginger@MountainTrails.org
Bookkeepr

Ian Hartley

ian@MountainTrails.org
Resource Manager
435-655-5853

2022 Trail Crew